- Title: Funerals held for Kurdish fighters killed in northeast Syria
- Date: 22nd October 2019
- Summary: CROWD CARRYING COFFIN CIVILIANS MOURNING, MAN CRYING
- Embargoed: 5th November 2019 14:38
- Keywords: Syria Syrian Democratic Forces Kurdish fighters Politics Security Funeral Qamishli
- Location: QAMISHLI, SYRIA
- City: QAMISHLI, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA002B26IZ47
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and residents of the Syrian town of Qamishli held funerals for fighters killed during clashes in the northeastern town of Ras al-Ain on Tuesday (October 22).
The crowd and coffin bearers chanted "martyrs" during the funeral procession and one mourner, Daria Ramadan, pleaded for an intervention by the U.N. or ''Russian allies".
Turkey says it wants to set up a "safe zone" along 440 km (275 miles) of border with northeast Syria, but its assault so far has focused on two border towns in the centre of that strip, Ras al Ain and Tel Abyad, about 120 km apart.
Some 300,000 people have been displaced by Turkey's offensive and 120 civilians have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor. It said on Sunday 259 fighters with the Kurdish-led forces had been killed, and 196 Turkey-backed Syrian rebels.
Turkey says 765 "terrorists" but no civilians have been killed in its offensive.
A five-day truce in Turkey's cross-border offensive to allow the withdrawal of Kurdish YPG fighters from the border area ends at 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Tuesday.
(Production: Antony Paone, Nadeen Ebrahim) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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